From episode one of Ishqbaaaz, Surbhi Chandna's Annika touched a nerve inside me. A beautiful and feisty exterior of a girl who has seen lots of disillusionment and despair in life. That scene where she sat by the roadside and cried alone after being insulted in Oberoi Mansion (by her now very loving husband Shivaay ) as roadside trash. Her sweet reward chocolate bar for Sahil crushed by a passing car.
That scene was seared into my mind, making me unable to dislike Annika ever, however the writers try to make her annoying often times. She's tough as nails, but it's a front to shield low self esteem hidden on the inside. Yes, she feels low about herself, especially when it comes to her lack of completed education.
Shivaay only has glimpses into her troubled youth by listening in on her conversations with others or being given information by external people who has inadvertently changed her course of life. How I wish for a moment where she could sit with him and tell him the story of her life from start to present, have him listen first hand from her.
But Annika probably wouldn't tell, because of her tadi. Yet, she did open up to him once though at the poolside after her gunshot wound. He was feeding her, and she lamented how this was the first time someone was caringly making sure she ate well when she was sick. Another was when they stayed at Annika's house, telling him why she was so scared of the dark, being physically abused by people at the orphanage.
I wished it was Shivaay who went to ask why she was upset. But it was Gauri, and I also understand how only she seemed to understand what it felt like to be made fun of. Rudy and Om even laughed at Gauri once during the "perspiration and "inspiration confusion. Gauri had already been through this, and went to learn English at Shivaay's suggestion, and from then Gauri earned respect from me.
Wanting to learn and improve is no small feat, in my personal opinion, it takes lots of humility and guts to learn something seemingly simple as an adult.
So they sat sadly in their puddle of self doubt, wondering if they both will ever get over that feeling of inadequacy inside them. I can see them wanting to help each other out to help improve themselves, because they feel everyone else in the house is more educated than them. It happens when you feel people are often laughing at you. So glad SSO didn't laugh at all, in fact he wanted to stop the bantering.
But wow, that woman in the offending car was rude, just because she spoke in English it doesn't make her any better or justified. She called Oberois driver an idiot , stupid and what not. She was so aggressive despite being in the wrong. Imagine slapping the man like that!? So, Annika went to man's rescue in her own style. Just that her style wasn't in English. The woman had to retreat after handing more insults, seeing as her high class status wasn't giving her upper hand in that situation.
Hindi Medium Types. Illiterate idiot.
What kind of principal is this? Such un-teacher-ly behaviour. Yuck.
Annika took home all those degrading insults and sat glumly to lunch. Shivaay used an idiom, which normally would've been no issue at all, but today it was heaping on an already full sack on her head. Rudy's childish teasing, about Annika never coming to terms with English language, struck a chord in Gauri too, both their husbands blissfully unawares.
That sisters' conversation by the poolside was really nicely done melancholy. The sharing between two girls who struggled the best that they could in their circumstances, suddenly feel their achievements were nothing great compared to the higher standard in which the Oberois live in.
I mean, Rudra is in no way a high achiever, but his education level is still higher than these two, if you want to be petty. That really made me feel bad. I know someone close to me who feels this way, she is so strong and is such an amazing person, but she always feels she isn't good enough because of her incomplete education. It's a lot to do with the standards one holds themselves to. If Annika was happy with whatever she was, she'd be just fine, but the echoes of unfulfilled dreams still keeps that part of her empty.🥺
I know I'm feeling a little too much for a character, especially when the production team is just jumping from one track to another without much sensitivity. But Shivaay must not use his money to fix this for her. If he tells her to go study English, it will look like he wants her to do it. It has to come from inside Annika. She has to want to improve and learn FOR HERSELF. *fingers crossed* 👍🏼
I'm afraid to hope that the PH will invest some time on Annika's character this time, instead of making it about "How Shivaay rescues/fixes things for Annika" again. I'm sorry but Annika initiating intimacy with her husband isn't what I think as forward progression.🤔
PDA issue
I like the way the writers played with the issue without coming across too preachy. Everybody had their own POV and didn't judge the other. Some real life perspective thrown in, some lessons learnt.
I really felt bad for Bhavya, it isn't fair to her to be subjected to that kind of scrutiny by rude people with nothing better to do. 😡 She didn't even ask for an opinion.
That comment on that photo was cruel. Made you cringe didn't it? Hope it makes some people think many times before posting a rude comment on someone else's photo. Dadi's OTT advice fit in this time, well done.👏
But I must say, Shivaay shook off his embarrassment very well over the weekend...😉😆
